The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-04-16
CONTRADICTIONS OF THE BIBLE.
BY Rev. EDGAR LEAvITT.
Oshkosh, Wis.,

article of Rev. j. B. SAKE, under the
above heading, and have also read
with regret (perhaps may say the ar
ticles of our respected Brs. Marsh and
Bennett. l am quite confident that
Br. SAKE is substantially correct in what
he says in regard to the Bible, and am
glad that he presents the matter in the
light he does. l believe these things
ought to occupy more space than they
do in our papers, and in the teachings
of our ministry, and in the preparation
of our students.
A correspondent some time ago took
me to task rather severely, I thought,
for claiming to explain a difficult pas
sage. and was impatient that any one
should attempt to apologize for God,"
as though he needed apologizing for.
If God does not need apologizing for,
men need that there should be those
who shall stand and Justify his ways
to man" (call it apologizing for God if
yol please), not only in the Bible, but in
nature. And it seems to me this is
eminently the work of the Christ
ian teacher. What else have our Uni
versalist preachers been doing for the
last century but explaining the appa-
rent contradictions of the Bible in ap-
pearing to teach at the same time end
less damnation, and just and loving
God What does the preacher do when
he stands by the coffin of our dear ones
and bids us still hope in God, and love
him, and trust him, notwithstanding
this affliction, and explains to us how
these things, if used Alright, may work
out for us ''far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory 7" The pur-
pose of religion in all ages is to recon
cile man to God, and this can be done
only by explaining things. But if the
theory of some people is correct, this is
all wrong. We would better make a
short cut with the Bible by saying,
"We don't care what it teaches enough
to explain it, and where we do so, it is
only because the prejudices of people in
it's favor seem to make it necessary to
do so.' This is not the way the Uni
versalist fathers have looked upon the
matter. And many of the seeming diff
ficulties are explained in their writings,
and have appeared from time to time
in our papers.
Thomas Paine, many years ago, raised
objections to the God Of the Old Testa-
-inen5, and after getting eIsfcugh with
that, he says substantially in his s'Age
of Reason - 81 have now destroyed
the Old Testament, and there is no
need of spending time on the New, for
if the Old Testament falls, the New
Testament falls with it." Bishop Wat
son, of the English church, issued
"Reply' to Mr.. Paine, which 1 have
the good fortune to possess, and while
it does not remove all difficulties on the
subject, shows at least this much, that
no greater objections may be raised
against the God of the Bible than may
be raised against the God of nature, in
whom Mr.. Paine professed to believe.
The same argument might be as legiti-
mately brought against the faith of the
Deist or the Theist, as against that of
tha Tou, Or tho Nbr;otioY
In regard to the "days'' of Genesis,
the ''age"-interpretation of which Br.
Bennett says: ut has been forced upon
Christianity by modern SCIENCE" the
late Prof. Cocker, of Michigan Univers-
ity, in his wonderfully valuable and
thorough volume, 'The Theistic Concep-
tion of the World, shows this intepreta-
ton to have been held by Origen, the old
Universalist, and st. Augustine, the
father of Calvinism, centuries ago, be-
fore what is known as Modern Science
had any existence; and this they did
on grounds of what appeared to them
sound principles of Biblical interpreta-
tion.
There is publishing house in Chi
cago Il do not know the name) that
makes speciality of infidel works, and
among others it has issued a pamphlet
which 1 have read, entitled, ''Seven
Hundred land something) Contradic-
tions of the Bible,n in which they have
collected all it's seeming discrepancies
and put them forth to show the utter
untrustworthiness of the book in which
Christians believe. In looking it over,
many of the alleged contradictions" l
could myself Immediately ''see through"
to my own satisfaction at least. Some
| could not but l was too modest to
conclude that my knowledge was coter-
minous with the possibilities of human
information. l afterward saw adver-
tised, and procured book which l con-
slider invaluable to every Bible student,
to every one who desires to know the
truth, to every one who cares enough
about the Bible to allow it fair snow
against the objections that are often
made against it. 1t is entitled, "An
Examination of the Alleged Diserep-
ancies of the Bible" by John w. Haley,
with an introduction by Alvah Hovey
| ID. d. (Boston, Estes and Lauriat, 1874